When Is The Client To Blame For SEO Failure?

An SEO client typically outsources the work to an SEO firm because they don’t have the time or the knowledge to execute SEO activities in house. That is understood. However, outsourcing SEO work to a firm means that the client still needs to be involved throughout the process to a certain degree. The client can’t sign the contract and then disappear, thinking that the SEO work is being done somewhere in the background and that it’s now off their plate.

The relationship between an SEO firm and an SEO client needs to be viewed as a partnership. Both parties need to work together in order to achieve positive results. An outsourced SEO Specialist may be an expert in SEO, but they certainly aren’t an expert in all of the industries of all of their clients. It’s simply impossible, which is why client input is an essential component of an SEO campaign. If a client doesn’t understand this or is unwilling to be involved, an SEO campaign may be doomed from the start.

Here are some examples of how the SEO client may be to blame for campaign failure:

1. No feedback was given

An SEO campaign is comprised of steps. One step should be completed before moving on to the next in order to keep things organized and on track. For each task that is completed by the SEO firm, feedback will be needed from the client to ensure that the next step is done properly. For example, keyword research is one of the first steps in the process and the keywords that are selected lay the groundwork for the rest of the campaign. The client will need to take the time to thoroughly review the keywords and remove any that aren’t quite accurate. If clients don’t spend the time and energy thoroughly reviewing these keywords, the wrong keywords could be targeted, which will result in the wrong traffic to the site and fewer conversions.

2. On-site changes weren’t made

Once keyword research has been completed and keywords have been approved, the next step is the on-site optimization component of the campaign. The SEO firm will go through the site page by page making recommendations to the content, meta information, etc. in order to add keywords naturally where they fit. After final approval by the client, the client will need to make sure that their web developer actually makes the changes to the site. If they aren’t made, or if too many recommendations are rejected, the SEO campaign will suffer. Clients need to be OK with making changes to the site content, that’s why they hired an SEO firm after all.

3. Time isn’t dedicated to content

Content is an essential component of an SEO campaign today, it’s what ranks in the search engines and what gets shared in social media, improving social signals. Content can be created by the company in house, outsourced to a writer, or the SEO company can handle it. Either way, it needs to get done and the client needs to be involved. If the work is outsourced, the writer needs to be given topic ideas, bullet points for discussion, and other items to further research. If the client ignores the content component of SEO, the SEO campaign won’t have the same impact.

Conclusion

If you’ve recently used an SEO consultant and aren’t happy with the results, before you start pointing fingers, make sure you’ve kept up your end of the bargain. SEO is not a set-it-and-forget-it process. You need to follow through and either ensure that the above items are taken care of in-house or outsourced, or ensure that the SEO has everything he/she needs to complete the process. Do that and the time and money you’ve spent on SEO has a much better chance of yielding the results you are looking for.

About the Author

Nick Stamoulis is the President and Founder of http://www.Brick Marketing.com/. With over 12 years of experience, Nick has worked with hundreds of companies small, large and every size in between. Through his vast and diverse SEO, search engine marketing, and internet marketing experience, Nick has successfully increased the online visibility and sales of clients in all industries. He spends his time working with clients, writing in his blog, publishing the Brick Marketing SEO newsletter (read by over 130,000 opt-in subscribers!) and also finds time to write about SEO in some of the top other online publications,

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2 Comments

I totally agree with all the above mentioned points. For SEO to be profitable for client business, Both SEO firm as well as SEO client should work as a partner. SEO will surely yield good result if done in a proper way :)